What does God desire of us?

 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

 Jesus included a Tax Collector, someone hated by the people because the tax collectors were most often Israelites who worked for the Romans, and who routinely charged more than due and took the difference for themselves.

 Jesus sat and ate with people who were known to be “sinners.”  This defined by the Pharisees of Jesus’ time could have meant any number of folks who committed real or imaginary sins and were looked upon with disdain by the public.

 When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for associating with these marginalized folk, Jesus addressed them with a quote from Hosea 6:6, the context of which was God’s desire for covenantal loyalty, but willingness only to temporarily punish the people because of God’s HESED (steadfast love).  “I desire mercy (eleos here substituted for Hesed – steadfast love) and not qusian (sin offering or sacrifice).

 Jesus then showed mercy to a synagogue leader by raising his daughter, and compassionate mercy on a woman considered unclean by the Law of Moses for many years.  Jesus included in His presence and in His agaph and Grace those who were often excluded by those who claimed to be faithful people of God.

 In this same Gospel (12:7), in the context of the Pharisees criticizing Jesus’ disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry and thus breaking Sabbath laws, Jesus utters the same quote as witnessed.  He referred to those accused by the Pharisees as “guiltless.”

 God desires less punitive treatment of people for every “sin,” and instead wants us to treat one another with mercy, compassion, clemency or even pity.  Why?  Because associating with the marginalized and getting food when hungry are not sins against God or against Neighbor.  No one is betrayed or hurt by this.  And there is another reason – God is merciful with us, abounding in Hesed.  We, as recipients of this Grace are commanded to share the same with one another and not pretend ourselves to be righteous so that we can foster a false sense of superiority in order to hurt others.  That is never justified behavior under the Law of Grace and agaph.

 We are either people of Grace, as both beneficiaries and benefactors of it, or we are not.  We cannot receive Grace, then refuse it to others and hope to be right with the God of Grace.  We are either people of agaph, as both recipients and actors of it, or we are not.  We cannot receive agaph, then refuse to live it with others and hope to be right with the God of agaph.

 The Pharisees believed themselves to be self-righteous and therefore above the need for Grace.  They had no value for it or the agaph Way of Jesus.  Jesus offered them lesson after lesson on how the Kingdom of God is centered on the living of agaph and Grace, but they could not develop a value for it, and certainly could not bring themselves to live it in the world.

 It is all about love.  It is all about valuing human beings equally.  It is all about putting the children of God above laws, pieties, protocols or judgment.  It is about putting our value for people above personal profit, power or prestige.

 Jesus, who found value in tax collectors and sinners, foreigners, non-Jews, women, eunuchs, Centurions and even corrupt religious leaders and rich people, gave Kingdom lessons, healing and inclusion to all of them.  This Jesus called out those who judged others out of a false sense of self-righteousness, but did it out of love for them so that they might repent (metanoia- change their thinking so that their behaviors, words and actions might change), and be right with God.

 We who follow Jesus might be more concerned about being faithful in love for God and Neighbor than we are about appearing to be holy, pure, or righteous.  We might be more concerned about Hesed, mercy, compassion, empathy and kindness, rather than punitive treatment of others to make ourselves feel and appear to be better than them.  The living of agaph and Grace with those who are no better or worse than ourselves is faithfulness to God.

 As God is steadfast in love for us, so we are commanded to be with one another.  As God includes those who are exploited, marginalized, excluded, disenfranchised and hated in the world, so are we commanded to include them out of agaph and Grace.